Strap tie-down system and hook



March 4, 1969 w. R. DAVIS ET AL STRAP TIE- DOWN SYSTEM AND HOOK Sheet Filed Sept. 19, 1967 INVENTORS WILLIAM R. DAVIS ANSELMO J. MACCHI ATTORNEYS March 4, 1969 w DAVls ET AL 3,430,912

STRAP TIE-DOWN SYSTEM AND HOOK Filed Sept. 19, 1967 Sheet 2/ United States Patent 3,430,912 STRAP TIE-DOWN SYSTEM AND HOOK William R. Davis, Simsbury, and Anselmo J. Macchi, Hartford, Conn, assignors to The Stanley Works, New Britain, C0nn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Sept. 19, 1967, Ser. No. 668,963

US. Cl. 248361 Int. Cl. A16b 5/07 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to strap tiedown systems for securing a plurality of separate members in a stabilized condition relative to a support. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new and improved tiedown system utilizing continuous lengths of elongated strap which cooperate with a plurality of specially designed strap anchoring hooks adapted to conveniently receive portions of the strap and to facilitate tensioning and immobilizing of the strap about individual members within the group being secured.

Strap tiedown systems have conventionally utilized short lengths of strap to individually secure a plurality of objects to a support. However, as can be appreciated, such operations are laborious, time consuming tasks difficult to accomplish in close quarters or relatively unaccessible areas.

Accordingly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved tiedown system of the type described which permits the tightening and immobilizing of continuous lengths of strap about individual members of a group in a rapid, facile manner and in such a way that any damage or breakage of the strap during the securing operation will aifect only the individual member being secured, the restraining contact of the strap about the remaining members being unaffected by the break.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a strap tiedown system of the type described which facilitates the controlled individual tensioning of the strap over each member being secured without the necessity of knotting or otherwise tying the continuous strap, the immobilization of the strap being eifectuated through the controlled frictional contact between different portions of the strap and the specially designed strap anchoring hook employed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a strap anchoring and immobilization hook for use with continuous strap in a system of the type described which is adapted for rapid mounting on a support member as well as ease in connecting intermediate portions of the continuous strap without requiring the formation of a knotted connection therewith.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a hook of the type described which can be readily manufactured in an economical manner as a one piece member of high strength finding use in restraining individual members of a group relative to a stationary support while at the same time providing a facile means of separating the strap gripping portion of the hook from the mounting portion thereof without diminishing the ability of the hook to carry the fully loaded and tensioned strap, the separability of the hook enabling its utilization in lightweight concrete slab construction.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in section and partly broken away, depicting the system of the present invention as employed in conjunction with a lightweight reinforced concrete slab construction;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the strap anchoring hook utilized in the system of the present invention, a support for the hook and tool for torsionally removing the mounting end thereof being shown in phantom; and

FIG. 3 is a front view of the hook depicted in FIG. 2 illustrating one manner in which the strap may be secured thereto.

Referring now to the drawings i greater detail, wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several figures, it will be appreciated that the system of the present invention is particularly suitable for the fabrication of a lightweight reinforced concrete slab construction which utilizes a plurality of hollow tubular members firmly stabilized and secured to a support to prevent their natural tendency to float to the surface as the Wet concrete is poured.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the reinforced concrete slab construction described herein for ease in understanding the invention is formed within a temporary mold or from having a flat supporting base 10 which may be a sheet of plywood or the like of suitable thickness, e.g., three quarter inch. The temporary base 10 is shown as being provided with a plurality of small supporting blocks 12 upstanding from its top surface 14, the reinforcing steel gridwork 16 resting on the supports 12 in spaced overlying relationship to the surface 14 thereby preventing exposure of the steel and the resultant undesirable corrosion thereof. Although it will be appreciated that the strap tiedown system of the present invention may be employed to firmly hold the gridwork of steel reinforcement, the present invention is believed to be better illustrated as a means of positionably stabilizing the hollow tubular members 18 which rest on the gridwork 16 and provide a series of regular voids of predetermined arrangement which exclude the unneeded dead weight concrete from the slab construction. As is wellknown, the hollow tubes 18 may be formed from suitable lightweight yet sturdy materials such as fibrous cardboard or similar low cost materials. Because of the large volume of air entrapped within the tubes 18, they will exhibit a natural tendency to float as the fluid concrete is poured unless they are stabilized and secured relative to the supporting base 10 or gridwork 16 of reinforcing steelrods.

In accordance with the present invention the tubes 18 are stabilized by tying them down with a continuous length of strap 20 which can be tensioned and secured about the individual tubes 18 in such a manner that knotting of the strap is not required and that a break in the strap during the tensioning and securing operation will not have the effect of completely freeing all the tubes previously secured. As best illustrated in FIGS. land 2, the temporary supporting base member 10 is provided with a plurality of regularly spaced apertures 22 of sufficient size to receive a strap anchoring book 24 Without permitting loss of an excessive amount of concrete. As shown, each hook 24 received within an aperture 22 is a one piece member easily formed from a solid metal rod and consists of a mounting arm 26 having a flattened S configuration, a strap retaining loop 28 and a substantially straight connector 30 integrally separating the mounting arm 26 and the loop 28. As shown, the mounting arm 26 extends outwardly from one end of the straight connector 30 at an angle of about 120 and is adapted to readily slide through the aperture 22 in the base which is slightly oversized relative to the thickness of the hook 24 in order to accommodate the flattened S configuration of the mounting arm 26. As will be apparent from FIG. 2, the connector 30 will also pass through the aperature 22 until the loop 26 comes into contact with the base 10 retaining the hook 24 in a strap receiving position. After the strap has been secured at one end and tightened over a tube 18, the hook 24 will be positioned so that the mounting arm 26 contacts the bottom surface 32 of the base 10 resulting in a firm and secure attachment of the hook 24 on the base 10.

The strap retaining loop 28 of the hook 24 is formed on the opposite end of the connector 30 from the mounting arm 26 and defines a generally square strap receiving opening 34. The loop 28 consists of an elongated locking bar 36 integrally connected to the connector 30 and extending outwardly therefrom at an angle of about 90 in such a manner that it is substantially coplanar with the mounting arm 26 as well as the connector 30. Integrally connected to the locking bar 36 by the generally spiralling portion 38 of the loop 28 is an elongated strap holding bar 40 positioned generally parallel to the locking bar 36 and spaced slightly therefrom. As best shown in FIG. 3, the holding and locking bars 40, 36, respectively, not only are positioned side-by-side in spaced parallel relationship but also are disposed within a common plane intersecting the connector 30 at approximately a right angle, the holding bar 30 exhibiting a free end 42 facing away from the connector 30.

Intermediate the mounting arm 26 and the loop 28 at a point spaced from the arm 26, the connector 30 is provided with a pair of opposed side dimples 44 forming a forwardly and rearwardly protruding beam 46 of reduced cross section which, as shown, is preferably coplanar with the projecting mounting arm 26 and locking bar 36. The beam 46 is positioned at a point which will be within the interior of the poured concrete slab and, in the embodiment illustrated, is spaced from the arm 26 by a distance approximately equal to one-fifth the length of the connector 30. The beam 46, while providing an area of torsional and lateral weakness, does not weaken the tensile strength of the hook 24 but rather provides added strength against the predominant force applied by the strap as it is firmly secured about an individual member such as the hollow tubes 18.

Referring now to FIG. 3 of the drawings, the strap 20 can be readily threaded onto the hook 24 by initially inserting a bowed portion of the strap through the opening 34 defined by the loop 28 in such a manner that the free end 48 of the strap is closest to the holding and locking bars of the loop. The bowed strap is preferably threaded from the side of the hook 24 closest to the locking bar 36 and is easily slipped over the free end 42 of the holding bar 40 so that the holding bar is placed within the interior of the bow and the free end 48 of the continuous strap passes between the strap holding bar 40 and locking bar 36. As the strap 20 is tightened, the free end portion 48 of strap 20 is compressed between the locking bar 36 and the overlying tensioned portion 50 which, as shown in FIG. 3, traverses the opening 34 inwardly of the holding and locking bars. As will be appreciated, the portion 50 of the strap bears against and frictionally engages the portion 48 of the strap forcing it against the locking bar 36 while at the same time drawing the holding bar 40 toward the locking bar 36 to thereby fixedly immobilize the free end portion 48 of the strap while controlling the tension applied to the strap portion 50. Thus, as the strap 20 is drawn from the right to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, each of the tubes 18 can be individually secured and the tension on the strap which overlies each tube can be individually controlled so as to adjust and maintain the stabilized condition of each tube.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the first or end hook 24 through which the strap passes may be positioned so as to face in the opposite direction from the remaining hooks of the system. In this manner the tensioned portion of the strap will pass over the tube 18 and frictionally contact the free end portion 48 of the strap 20 to immobilize it against the locking bar 36 in the same manner as on the interior or intermediate hooks of the system.

As will be appreciated, after each of the tubes of the assembly have been properly secured, the concrete may be poured and permitted to solidify in the usual manner. Advantageously, in accordance with the present invention, the strap anchoring hooks 24 are adapted to permit separation of the mounting arm 26 from the strap anchoring loop 28 inwardly of the bottom surface of the poured concrete slab, so as to avoid the protrusion of any steel parts which might subsequently be subjected to corrosion. This is etfectuated by applying a torsional or rotational force to the protruding arm 26 by means of a suitable tool such as the tool 54 shown in phantom in FIG. 2. The dimple formed beam 46 which does not adversely affect the tensile strength characteristics of the book 24 does provide, as mentioned hereinbefore, a point of rotational weakness in the connector 30. Accordingly, as a torsional force is appiied to the arm 26 the connector 30 yields at its point of rotational weakness causing separation of the connector at the beam 46 and permitting the ready removal of the arm and integral connector portion up to the beam 46. The temporary form including the plywood base 10 and the supporting blocks 12 may then be easily removed and the recesses caused by the removed portions may then be readily patched to form a neat, pleasing and completely metal-free exterior surface for the concrete slab.

As can be seen from the foregoing detailed description, the present invention provides an improved tiedown system including a specially designed strap anchoring hook permitting the secure immobilization of individual members while obviating the necessity of knotting the continuous strap at intermediate portions thereof. The system envisions the use of low cost, easily produced components which can be rapidly and simply installed and quickly assembled to controllably secure individual members in a stabilized condition relative to a base support. Additionally, the present invention provides for the separation of the attaching means of the book after it has served its intended function without adversely affecting the strength of the hook in the performance of that function.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptions of the structure abovedescribed will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a system for individually securing a plurality of separate members in a stabilized condition relative to a support by means of a continuous length of elongated strap held in restraining contact against said members and a plurality of spaced hooks anchored to the support for cooperatively receiving portions of the member traversing strap, the improvement wherein the hooks comprise attaching means for anchoring the hooks to the support, strap retaining means for individually tensioning and immobilizing unknotted portions of the restraining strap including a strap holding bar and an integral strap locking bar positioned in substantial side-by-side relationship with the strap holding bar, and a connector for separably connecting the attaching means to the strap retaining means.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the continuous strap engages both the strap holding bar and strap locking bar and is threaded around the strap holding bar while being in intimate frictional contact with itself as it engages the strap locking bar.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the hook is a one piece member, the strap holding bar is provided with a free end facilitating threadable engagement by the strap and the attaching means is separable from the strap retaining means.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the connector is an elongated shaft provided with an intermediate area of reduced cross section facilitating rational separation of the attaching means from the strap retaining means, said intermediate area being substantially coplanar with at least one of the bars of the strap retaining means.

5. A one piece strap securing hook comprising an elongated supporting shaft, an integral angularly disposed mounting arm extending outwardly from one end of said shaft, and an integral strap retaining portion extending outwardly from the opposite end of said shaft, said strap retaining portion including a pair of elongated strap holding and locking bars positioned in side-by-side relationship within a substantially common plane intersecting said shaft.

6. The hook of claim 5 wherein the strap retaining portion is an enclosed loop defining a strap receiving opening and said holding and locking bars are substantially parallel and integrally joined by a portion of the loop.

7. The hook of claim 5 wherein the mounting arm is disposed at an acute angle to the axis of the shaft and is provided with a flattened S configuration.

8. The hook of claim 5 wherein the elongated supporting shaft is provided with a pair of opposed dimples intermediate the mounting arm and the strap retaining portion facilitating rotational separation of the mounting means from the strap retaining portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 73,772 1/1868 Bradford 24868 XR 2,737,204 3/ 1956 La Bonte 248-68 XR 3,245,649 4/1966 Cassidy et a1 248-361 3,286,419 11/ 1966 Eriksson 52225 3,304,031 2/1967 Mulguin 287-2 JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 52225; 248-68 

